


You don't get to tell me what to do

by Codango



Category: Gintama
Genre: Bows & Arrows, F/M, Fear, First Love, Love/Hate, Near Death Experiences, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 06:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3600441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codango/pseuds/Codango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let go!” she screamed. </p><p>As if. You don’t get to tell me what to do, China. Ever.<br/>Sweat beaded on his forehead. It ran down his nose, threatened to get salt in his eyes. But he stared at her.<br/>Never.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You don't get to tell me what to do

**Author's Note:**

> Another super-short OkiKagu moment expanded from Chapter 534!  
> http://bato.to/read/_/311450/gintama_v59_ch534_by_hi-wa-mata-noboru

His body was moving before his brain could register that it was a dumb choice.

Okita’s hand lashed out, closing on her wrist. Somehow his katana was in his teeth, his lips curled back to keep from slicing the corners of his mouth.

Kagura swung from his grip, a pendulum against the sheer rock wall. He tightened his hold on a sharp rock, felt his fingernails rip. A screaming, kicking pendulum. He’d shout at her to stop being an idiot and _hold still dammit_ , but he couldn’t risk losing his blade.

He heard Hijikata shout his name, and almost in the same breath, Gintoki bellowed for Kagura. They'd obviously seen the assassin's arrow carve off the stone that had been her handhold on the sheer rock face. At any moment, every last one of them could be picked off the cliff like flies on a kitchen wall.

_Idiots. Pay attention to your own danger._

Okita braced for another rain of arrows. _If one goes through my hand — shut UP, Sougo!_ He looked down at the tiny Yato swinging below him, still trying to find a foothold. And his breath caught.

Her eyes.

Wide but unafraid. Determined. _Angry?!_

“Let go!” she screamed.

_As if. You don’t get to tell me what to do, China. Ever._

Sweat beaded on his forehead. It ran down his nose, threatened to get salt in his eyes. But he stared at her.

_Never._

If she hadn’t given up. If she wasn’t afraid.

_Fuck that._

He wasn’t either.

He’d keep looking into her eyes until they figured this out or fell off the wall.

Kagura shifted her gaze to a point far above his head. Horror dawned on her face — _they must have pulled back their arrows_ — and she screamed, “LET. GOOOOO!”

_I can maybe swing her back to the wall. If I get hit, I might be able to push her as I’m falling…_

The sound of a million angry metal bees filled the air from above. The archers’ shouts of challenge changed to shrieks of terror.

Okita felt every muscle sag in relief. _They made it._ The Shinsengumi, the Joui renegades… they’d drilled through the mountain as planned. He glanced up, calculating. It was still a couple hundred yards to the top of the cliff. And the fight that waited for them there.

But at least they could finish the climb without fending off a rain of arrows. Okita turned his focus back to Kagura.

A smirk tweaked her lips. Her eyes were fierce, and he might hate himself later for the thrill they sparked in his chest.

“What are you waiting for, bastard?” Kagura shouted. “Get me back on this wall!”

It’s tough to grin with a katana in your teeth. Okita swung her roughly by the arm, and she jammed her umbrella into the rock face. She was outpacing him instantly. “Tired, old man?” she jeered, looking back at him.

Okita sheathed his blade and found a new foothold. His fingernails were bleeding, and the corners of his mouth were sore. “Don’t blame me that you’re so heavy.”

He caught the rock she lobbed at him and tossed it over his shoulder, grinning.

**Author's Note:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr
> 
> [Marcella Christie](http://marcellachristie.com/) for my alter ego


End file.
